Thread-controller for sewing-machines



PATBN'TBD SEPT. 20, 1904.

E. L. BOWERS. THREAD CONTROLLER FOR SEWINGv MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 16, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

Erdlb' @ttoznmi IINTTED STATES Patented September 20, 1904.

PATENT Ormea.

EDV ARD L. BOWERS, OF ORANGE, MASSACHUSETTS. ASSIGNOR TO THE NEW HOME SEWING MACHINE COMPANY, OF ORANGE, MASSACHU- SETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

THREAD-CONTROLLER FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 770,516, dated September 20, 1904,

Application filed October 16, 1903.' Serial No. 177,278. (No modelf To all whom, it may cnf/fwn:

Be it known that I, EDWARD L. BOWERS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Orange, in the county of Franklin and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Thread- Controllers for Sewing-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

In the ordinary sewing-machine as usually 1o constructed provision is made whereby the take-up will operate upon the completion of each stitch to draw a certain predetermined amount of thread from the spool or other thread-supply for the formation of the succeeding stitch, and as the amount of thread required for a stitch of course varies according to the thickness of the work being operated upon it is customary to have the thread so drawn from the spool or other thread-supzo ply of sufficient length to provide for the formation of a stitch in relatively thick work and in event of thinner work being operated upon to control the difference or surplus between the amount drawn from the spool and the amount required for the stitch by a slackthread controller or so-called intermediate take-up operating between the tension and the main take-up. This slack-thread controller is usually in the form of a llight spring which operates to take up and control the surplus or slack thread during the descent of the needle, so as to prevent its becoming impaled upon or entangled about the point of the latter, the controller yielding under the strain of the thread during the upward movement of the take-up in completing the stitch so as to give up the necessary length of thread required for the stitch. It is desirable, however, that the thread should be relieved of the strain thus produced by the tension of the spring-controller, and it has therefore been the principal object of my invention to provide an improved slack thread controller which will be operated automatically to control the delivery ofthe needle-thread according to the thickness of the work being operated upon.

To this end the invention consists in the novel features of construction and combinations of parts, as hereinafter set forth in detail, and pointed out in the claims.

Referring' to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure l is a' front end elevation of a sewing-machine arm provided withmy improved thread-controller and shows the relative positions of the controller, take-up, and needle when the take-up is at its highest point and the needle has begun its descent. Fig. Q is a similar view showing the relative position of the parts when the needle has entered the work. Fig. 3 is a rear view of the face-plate, showing the thread-controller supported thereby and a cooperating section of the `presser-bar.

Similar characters designate like parts in all the figures of the drawings.

The sewing-machine in connection with which I have illustrated my invention is provided with a presser-bar l, a needle-bar E2, a

tension device 3, and a vertically-oscillating take-up 4, all of usual construction and operation.

My improved slack-thread controller comprises a plate 6, which is slidably mounted upon the face-plate 7 at the rear side thereof and proyided withan arm 8,projecting th rough an elongated slot 9 in said face-plate to an operative position at the front side of the latter for engaging with the thread at a point between the tension and the take-up, the said threadengaging' arm being provided with an eye IO, through which the thread is passed. The controller-plate 6 may be slidably mounted upon the face-plate 7 in any suitable manner to permit of a vertically-reciprocatory movement of its thread-engaging arm 8,the same in the present case being guided at one end by the arm 8, projecting through the slot 9, and at its opposite end by a rounded extension or pin l1, projecting through a corresponding opening in a stationary bracket-plate l2, the controller-plate being further guided and also retained in operative connection with the faceplate by means of a headed screw 13, which is tapped into said face-plate and engages with the controller-plate through an elongated slot 14 therein.

The controller is yieldingly held in a normal stationary position adjacent to the lower end of the slot 9 in the face-plate by means of a suitable spring, this spring in the present case being in the form of a coiled spring 15, located upon the rounded extension 11 of the controller-plate, with one end bearing against a lateral extension 16 of the latter and its upper or opposite end bearing against the stationary bracket-plate 12 on the face-plate. rIhe controller being thus supported will yield upwardly against the tension of the spring' 15 under the strain of the thread as produced during the latter portion of the upward movement ofthe take-up in completing the stitch, as shown in Fig. 1, and will subsequently move downward under the action of said spring as the thread is given down by the take-up and operate to control and prevent the formation of undue slack thread, as shown in Fig. 2. As a convenient means for regulating the pressure of the spring 15 upon the controller the bracket-plate 12, which forms a bearing for one end of said spring, is made adjustable by means of an elongated slot 17 therein, through which its fastening or setscrew 18 extends.

In order that the controller may be operated to automatically take up and deliver more or less thread, according to thc thickness of the work being operated upon, and so relieve the thread of unnecessary strain and at the same time assure more perfect stitching, I have made provision whereby the movement of the controller and its consequent action on the thread will be automatically regulated by the presser-bar as the position of the latter is varied according to the thickness of the work fed thereunder. This is effected in the present case by providing the presser-bar with a laterally-projecting arm 20, upon which the lateral tension 16 of the controller-plate normally rests, and which consequently forms a stop to limit the downward movement of the controller. Thus if the presser-bar is raised by the passage of thick work thereunder the controller is raised accordingly, and its subsequent movement for taking up slack thread is correspondingly decreased, while in the event of thinner work being passed under the presser the latter will be lowered accordingly and permit a correspondingly greater movement of the controller to take up the increased surplus thread.

As a means to prevent any undue noise that might be caused by the contact of the controller with the presser-bar arm 2O in taking up the slack thread I have attached a piece of felt or other sound-deadening material 21 to each of the said parts at their point of contact, as clearly shown in Fig. 3.

What I claim is- 1. In a sewing-machine, the combination with the presser-bar, and the face-plate having a slot therein, of a vertically-movable thread-controller slidably mounted upon the rear side of the face-plate and having a threadengaging' arm projecting through the said slot therein, the said thread-controller being supported vertically by the presser-bar to be movable therewith and being also movable independently thereof, and means for retaining the thread-controller in sliding connection with the face-plate.

2. In a sewing-machine, the combination with the presser-bar, and the face-plate having a slot therein, of a vertically-movable thread-controller slidably mounted upon the rear side of the face-plate and having a threadengaging arm projecting through the said slot therein, the said thread-controller being supported vertically by the presser-bar to be movable therewith and being also movable independently thereof, means for retaining the thread-controller in sliding connection with the face-plate, and a spring exerting a downward pressure upon the thread-controller and yieldingly holding the same in operative engagement with the presser-bar.

3. In a sewing-machine, the combination with the presser-bar, and the face-plate vhaving a slot' therein, of a vertically-movable thread-controller slidably mounted upon the rear side of the face-plate and having a threadengaging arm projecting through the said slot therein, the said thread-controller being supportedy vertically by the presser-bar to be movable therewith and being also movable independently thereof, means for retaining the thread-controller in sliding connection with the face-plate, a spring eXertinga downward pressure upon the thread-controller and yieldingly holding the same in operative engagement with the presser-bar, and means for regulating the pressure of said spring.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 30th day of September, A. D. 1903.

EDWARD L. BOWERS.

Witnesses:

CHAs. F. DANE, E. M. FAITH.

IOC 

